Automatic merchandising machine



Aug-v 28, 1951 c. GABRn-:LSEN ET AL 2,565,766

AUTOMATIC MERCHANDISING MACHINE Filed sept. s, 1949 6 sheets-sheet 1 Y IEZIE i 14T WPA/E Y Aug. 28, 1951 c. GABRIELSEN ET Al. 2,565,756

AUTOMATIC MERCHANDISING MACHINE Filed Sept. 8, 1949 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 f4 fA- i; I

0 INVENT'ORS CHR/swan GHap/E/.sL-w Hswo VoePEg/AN AT5 4 i BY Aug. 28, 1951 c. GABRIELSEN ET Al. v v 2,565,756

AUTOMATIC MERCHANDISING MAHINE Filed Sept. 8, 1949 6 Sheets-Sheet :5

IN VEN TORS CHR/5 T/mv @wane/ 55N HPA/vp VoRPER//IA/ HTTOpA/EY ug- 28, 1951 c. GABRIELSEN ET A1. 2,565,765

AUTOMATIC MERCHANDISING MACHINE Filed Sept. 8, 1949 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 V BY Hem/D l/oePe/HN /KMLSQW HTTOPNE'Y Aug. 28, 1951 @GABRIELSEN kvET Al. 2,565,756

AUTOMATIC MERCHANDISING MACHINE FledSept. 8, 1949 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 I N VEN TOR5 ge/ezse/v Hee/vo Voep/Q/HA/ M AUTOR/VE? Aug. 28, 1951 c. GABRIELSEN ET A1.

AUTOMATIC MERCHANDISING MACHINE 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed Sept. 8, 1949 IN VEN TORS One/.SWAN Gmane/ 55N Patented ug. 28, 1951 2,565,166, y AUTOMATIC MERCHANDISING' MACHINE Christian Gabrielsen and Whippany, N. J., assig'nors turing Co., Inc., Whippany,

of New York Iiriiil, Yrreriail, to Rowev Mannino- N. .La corporationv Application September 8, 1949, Serial No. 114,614 s claims; (c1.- aiz'jsi) L Our invention relates to an automatic, merchandising machine and more particularly to a coin controlled machine adapted to vend candy bars and other merchandise` in a simple, convenient and expeditious manner.

Due to the universal .demand for cigarettes,

there are a great many cigarette vending machines of various types, all of which revolve aroundv the principle lof stacking cigarettes. Cigarette packages are regular in shape and are usually wrapped in cellophane, so they lend themselves very readily to this form of machine,

A great many articles, however, cannot be stacked due to their composition or shape, and thus require special constructions in order to be able to vend them through an automatic merchandising machine. `Candy bars, for example, are not only irregular in shape, but will become deformed or spoiled if it were attempted to stack one candy bar on top of another. Due to the necessity of making special provision for the store ing of articles of this type, the capacity of candy vending machines, for example, has been limited as compared with cigarette machines. The result is that they must be serviced very frequently, especially if situated in a location where there is a large demand for candy bars. This tends to make the operation of machines of this type uneconomical.

One object of -our invention is to provide an automatic merchandising machine adapted to vend articles which cannot be stacked, in a simple, convenient and expeditious manner.

Another object of our invention is to provide an automatic merchandising machine for candy bars or the like having a large capacity.

Another object oi our invention is to provide an automatic merchandising machine which is flexible in design, simple and inexpensive in construction, and certain in its operation. v

Other and further obj ects of our invention will appear from the following description.

In the accompanying drawings which form part of the instant specication and which are to b e read in conjunction therewith, and in whichlike reference numerals are used to indicate like parts in the various views:

Figure 1 is a' side elevation of an automatic merchandising machine containing one embodiment of our invention. f f

Figure 2 is a fragmentary front view taken along the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an elevation showing a portion of the coin register, drawn on an enlarged scale, taken along the line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Vporting member,

`ce'ssively to freethe shelves. normally locked by a .coin mechanism prevents `is adaptedL y take any combinatioriof nickels and dimes, aswell asa quarter, and givechangeonfa .purchase of a nickel for two dimesijandten cents end' ofthev base. Between lFigurefl a fragmentary elevation drawn on an enlarged scale, taken along the line 4-f-`4 of Fieure... Figure 5 a perspective view with parts'in section, drawn on an enlarged scale, taken along the line 5 .5 0i Figure 2-.

Figure 6 isa sectional view taken 'along' the p1ar1e-69iFigure5-'f f lig'ur-ehTisy al sectional view taken along the planer-'l--l of Figure 5.

Figure Bis a perspective View similar to Figure 5 showing a modified construction containing aniother embodimentrof our invention. 1n general our.invention'contemplates the provision lof a plurality of"pivoted"shelves each formed With;a crank rotatable with the shelf. A exble'steel member such as" a steel vtapeis adapted to contact the shelf cranks to hold'them in a horizontal 'positiomfin which position the merchandise tokbe vended is supported by the shelf. Vlvleans are 'provided Vfor*progressing the steel tape successively .to free it from contact with the. shelf Icranks suchthatthevweight of the shelf, and its merchandise will permitltheshelf to pivot to dump the Vmerchandise being vended to a A pluralitT chute. for delivery to the purchaser.

.'of.- columns of merchandise vshelves are provided,

each equipped withits ownmovabl'e 4shelfsup- Operating means are provided for advancing the shelfsupporting member suc- An ,operating bar the actuationV of `vthe operating -fmemben Upon the deposit of coins ofthe right denomination the operating baris-freedlto permit the actuating member to'iree a shelf. Merchandise is selected by pulling a knob opposite a respective column.

Thecoinregister uSed---with our machine mair 40 fbef'of any suitable type,l butfwe'l prefer to use, Yand hav'eshown our machine with the coin register shown in -cop'ending application of Christian vGabrielseri;Serial No.' 768,997. This coin'register toA Avend for -various LpricesV andl' will fifteen cent with `a ydeposit of a quarter. More particularly referring now to the drawf'ings, our automaticmerchandising machine comprises albase member'lll 'to which are secured 'a pair of sideirame membersl'Z positionedkateach the sdemembers l2 and parallel thereto rwe provifde 'a lplurality 'of vertically,extendipfpartit Il extending be- 3 tween the front vertically extendingframe members I6 and rear vertically extending frame members I8, as can readily be seen by reference to Figure 5. The shelves 20 are supported by wire members 2 2 which are secured to the shelves, as can readily be seen by reference to Figure 5. One end of the wire member vis pivotally positioned in rear frame member |8 and the other end of the wire member 22 is pivoted in the front frame member I6. The wire is bent to the formof a U 24 intermediate its ends to forma shelf sup- Y a limited amount of motion of the link before porting portion. The front end of the wire which passes through the support I6 is formed with acrank 26, the purpose of. which will be pointed out more fully hereinafter.

Carried by the base I0 we provide a housing 28 formed with a slot 30 through which an operating bar 32 passes. rangement, such as gear segments 3| meshing with a suitable'rack (not shown), is Vprovided so that the operating bar will reciprocate in the slot 30 parallel to itself. A plurality of pull rods 34 provided with knobs 36 are Amounted adjacent each'of the respective columnsv of the machine. A sliding cam arrangement positioned in the housing 40 is provided, such that when one of the knobs 36 is pulled the other knobs will be locked. The arrangement is well'knownl to the art, and is operated by cams 4|, one of which is carried by each of the pull rods 34 adapted to cam a plurality of members to block the operation of all the other pull rods 34 when one of the pull rods is operated. IEach of the pull rods 34 is secured to a reciprocating member 42 shown in Figures 5 and 7, adapted to engage the operating bar 32 whenever any rod 34 vis pulled. Pivotally secured to the lower end of member 42 we provide a pivoted member 44 adapted to be cammed upwardly by Any suitable parallel motion ara cam plate'46 wheneverthe pull rod 34 is moved f tothe left, as shown in Figure 7:, to embrace the operating rod 32. The cam -plate 46 is provided with a slot 48 through-which theflower end 50 of 'the member `42 passes to prevent-rotation around the axis ofthe pullrod 34. When the member 44 is swung upwardly by the cam plate 46 itwill embrace the operatingbar sozthatsit will be carried back along with the-member 34 on the return motion. A double. cam member 52y is secured to the member 42 for reciprocation therewith. This f member is shown in perspective in Figure 5 and carries a lower cam plate l54and an upper cam plate 56. The upper cam plate 56 is formed integrally with the member 52. The lower cam plate 54 is pivotally mounted around pivot pin 58 carried by the member52. A vertically positioned reciprocating member 60 is mounted adjacent the front of each column, as can readily be seen by reference'to Figures l5, 6 and 7. This member is normally urged upwardly by'a spring 62 and is providedwith a plurality of lugs 64 which taper upwardly. yThe lower end of the reciproating member 601sI provided with a pin 66 carrying a roller 68. The roller normally engages the lower surface of the upper inclined cam 58, as f shown in Figure 5.

Referring now to Figure l, a'bell'crankv 'I0 is pivoted about pin 'I2 carried'by the side member l l2. A spring I4 normally urges the `bell crank to rotate in a clockwise direction. The bell crank is provided with an upper pin 16 and a lower pin `|8r which are adapted to'engage surfaces formed "upon a' cam V80 shown in dotted lines in Figure 1 and in full lines inFigure'B. 'A pin'82 passes througha s101784Y formed inealink 86. The end of link 86 is pivoted to the lower end cfan arm inthe coin register, the toe 96 will engage the rst tooth 98 and prevent return motion of the operating Abar until the vending cycle is completed. The movement of the operating bar will cause the link 86 to move to the left, as viewed in Figure 1, engaging the pin 82 and rotating the bell crank in a counterclockwise direction.

Theother arm of the bell crank carries a pin |00 to which is pivotally secureda link |02. .The rocking of the bell crank in a counterclockwise direction will raise the link |02, the upper end of which is positioned in a slot |04 formed in a llange |06 carried by a member` |08 supported by the side member I2 of the frame. A locking lever |I0 is pivoted about a pin II2 carried by the bracket |03. A spring ||4 is secured to the upper end of the locking lever |I0 by means of a pin I I 6 and is adapted to rotate the locking lever in a clockwise direction. The lower end of the locking lever is provided with a toe I I8 extending through an opening |20 formed in the member |68. A flange v|22 is formed at the side of the locking lever and is adapted to be engaged by the lower end of an unlocking lever |24 which is lpivoted about a pin |26. When the locking lever I I0 is in the position shownin Figure 1, the upper end |0| of the link |02 will butt against the toe IIB of the locking lever and prevent further rotation of the bell crank 10. This is reached before the toe 96 of the pawl 92 engages the first tooth 98 of the rack 94. One of the coin register slides |30, when freed by coins, is adapted to move to the -left as viewed in Figure 1, to pivot the unlocking lever |24 in a counterclockwise direction causing the lower end of the unlocking lever |24 to move to the right acting against the flange |22 of the locking lever,.pivoting the locking lever to rotate in a vcounterclockwisedirection and carrying the locking lug I8 to the right free of the .end |0I of the link |02. AWhen this occurs the knob 36 maybe pulled through its full stroke rotating the bell crank 'I0 in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed in Figure 1, and in a clockwise direction as viewed in Figure 3, in which ligure only the pins 16 and I8 carried by the bell crank are shown. Y Y Y Referring now to Figure 3, whenever knob 36 is pulled the pins I6 and 18 will rotate the cam about its pivot |32 in a clockwise direction as shown bythe arrow. When there are no coins in .the coin register or insufficient coinsare present Sto free one of theregister slides the locking arm I0| butts up against thelange |I8 on the locking lever j I0 and the motion stops. The

--limited' rotationY of the cam 80, however, will rock |40 tothe bell'crank |34, to the left against the action of spring |42.

A lever |44 is pivoted about pin |46 andits upper end is; connected to a link |48 by means of pivot pin |50. The lower end of lever I 44 is provided with a pin |52 which seats in a reentrant portion |54 formed in the link |38 so that as the link |38 moves to the left it will rotate the lever |44 in a clockwise direction pulling the link |48 to the right. to a pivoted lever |56-by pivot pin |58. The lower end of lever |56 which is pivotally mounted adjacent its upper end (not shown) is provided with a roller |60 which bears against an inclined cam surface |62 formed at the end of lever |64 pivoted about a pin |66. A spring |68 urges the cam portion |62 downwardly and tends to swing the lever |56 to the left as viewed in Figure 3. As the link |48 moves to the right it will swing the lever |56 to the right against the action of the cam lever just described. A link |10 is secured to the lever |56 by means of the pin |12 so that it will be moved to the right when the lever |56 swings to the right. The link |10 has a depending portion |14 which is connected by spring |16 to a plurality of links |18, each of which is connected to a pair of links |80 which are connected in turn to the coin register slide |30. `The movement of the link |10 to the right tends to move the coin register slides to the right, as viewed in Figure 3, and to the left as viewed in Figure 1. When an insufficient number of coins is in the coin register to free one of the slides the slides lock and tension is placed on the spring |16 and the operation of the machine is stopped by the locking lever. A bell crank |82 pivoted about a pin |84 is adapted to rotate in a counterclockwise direction whenever the link |10 moves to the right. A coin return linkage is connected to depress the member |86 whenever a ,user operates the coin return to have money deposited in the machine returned, as is well known in the art. The member |86 is provided with a pin |88 adapted to be immobilized by the arm |90 of the bell crank |82 so that whenever a pull rod is being operated the coin return cannot be put into operation. The coin register shown in copending application, Serial No. 768,997 referred to above, is adapted to operate different columns at different prices. The parts comprising the lever |92, the spring |04, the member |96, the members |98, lever 200 are part of the price differential mechanism adapted to operate a change-maker forming part of the coin register. The member 202 which projects through crescent-shaped slot 204 coacts with the portion 206 of the lever 88 (shown in Figure l) to accept the coins deposited in the coin register.

It will be seen 'hat the arrangement is such that any of the knobs 36 may be pulled opposite the desired merchandise and limited motion is permitted to enable the coin register to sense whether or not the proper coins are in the coin register. If they are not, motion is stopped and no further action takes place. If the proper coins are in the coin register an unlocking action takes place permitting the pull rods to pass through their full amplitude of motion.

Referring now to Figures and 6, a flexible steel tape 2|0 is wound about a spring reel 2|2. The tape extends downwardly in a guide channel formed by nanges 2 |4. The lower end of the steel tape 2|0 carries a housing 2|6 secured thereto in any suitable manner. The housing carries for reciprocation therein a spring-pressed dog normally urged to the right, as viewed in Figure 5. The end of the dog terminates in a pin 2 |8 abutting against the reciprocating member 60. If the pin 2|8 is pulled to the left by meansl of the knob 220, the tape may be pulleddownwardly Link |48 is connected unwinding about the spring reel 2 2. This action will successively strike the cranks 26 and tilt the shelves into the position shown in Figure 6 with the cranks 26 supported against the steel tape 2|0 in a position to support merchandise indicated by the reference numeral 209.

As the pull knob 36 is pulled the double cam member 52 moves forwardly, as viewed in Figure 5. Its first action is to pull the reciprocating member 6|! downwardly against the action of spring 62. When the roller 68 slips by the end of the pivoted cam member 54 this member will occupy the position shown in Figure 5. As the member 52 returns, that is, when the pull rod is pushed back the roller 68 will be positioned underneath the pivoted cam plate 54 and the reciprocating member 60 will move down farther against the action of spring 62. The amplitude of motion is such that the lug 64 positioned just above the pin 2|8 will pass the pin moving it to the left against the action of its spring 2|1 and permitting it to ride past the lock 64. When the roller 68 passes the forward end of the pivoted cam plate 54 the spring 62 will pull the reciprocating member 60 upwardly until the roller 68 strikes the upper cam plate 56 to the position shown in Figure 5. This upward motion of the reciprocating member will move the steel tape upwardly clearing the crank 26 and permitting the shelf 20 to drop to the position shown in Figure 5, dumping the merchandise which strikes a delivery chute, part of which is formed by the curved plate 222 shown in Figure 5.

The action described above is repeated until y the uppermost shelf is tripped. When this occurs the pin 2|8 of the spring dog will strike a lug 224 carried by the end of a reciprocal link 226 moving it upwardly 'through the action of the spring 62 carried by the member 60. The link carries a plate 228 at its lower end engaging a pin 230 carried by an empty locking lever 232. The end of lever 232 is formed with a hook 234 adapted to extend through a slot 233 formed in the housing 236. The lever 232 is pivotally mounted by pivot pin 23| upon reciprocating member 42 which is operated by pull rod 34 and adapted to move therewith whenever the double cam member 52 is operated. Normally, the vertically movable member 226 is in the lower position so that the locking lever 232 is rotated about its pivot 23| in a clockwise direction due to `the weight of the pin 230 in order to bring it clear of the housing 236. When the parts are in the position shown in Figure 4 the pull rod cannot be operated except for a very short distance governed by the clearance between the hook 234 and the end of the slot formed in the housing 236. When the vertically reciprocating member 226 is lifted the empty locking lever 232 is rotated in a counterclockwise direction to bring the hook 234 into position in the slot formed in the housing 236. As the pull rod is operated the operating bar 32 moves forwardly and cams the member 240 downwardly. A bracket 242 formed of insulating material carries a light conducting member 244. The upper end 24| of the member 240 is adapted to wipe by and contact the conducting member 244 to complete a circuit lighting a, small incandescent lamp serving as an empty signal to give the user notice that a particular column operated by the pull rod is depleted of merchandise. This wiping a-etion occurs with every pull but the movement is so fast that the Y as the pull rod is operated. TheA` empty lock4 light merely ickers on 7 arrangement, however, stops the parts atrapoint where the circuit is completed so that a pull of a pull rod will operate the empty signal and signal the user.

Referring now to Figure 8, we have shown another form of our invention in which the double cam plate 52 is eliminated and a single cam plate 55 is secured to the member 42 for operation with a pull rod. The cam plate 52 is formed with a cam slot in which the roller 68 carried by the reciprocating member 60 is positioned. As a pull rod is pulled the member 42 moves to the-right, as viewed in Figure 8, carrying with it the cam plate 55. The rst action is to move the reciprocating member 60 downwardly through an amplitude suicient to permit the spring pressed pin 2|8 to ride over the inclined lug 64 just above it on the reciprocating member 60. When the pull rod is pushed backward to its original position it will be cammed upwardly to the position at first occupied. This motion, however, will carry the lug 64 upwardly to its original position and in so doing will push the pin 2| 8 upwardly, forcing the exible steel tape 2| 0 to move upwardly and freeing the crank 26 of the second shelf from the bottom, shown in Figure 8, permitting it to dump its merchandise. This action is repeated successively until all theshelves are dumped and the empty lock actuated by the pin 2|8 lifting the lug 224, as pointed out hereinabove.

In operation, let us assume that no coins are in the coin register and a pull rod is pulled. The pulling of one pull rod will lock all the other pull rods by the interlocking sliding wedges 39 actuated by the cam 4|, as is well known to the art. The member 42 will move with the pull rod and move the operating rod 32 in the direction of the pull. The operating rod 32 is constrained to move in parallel motion by means of the gear segments 3| which are secured to the operating rod. The movement of the operating rod will pull the link 86 in Figure l to the left, rotating the bell crank in a counterclockwise direction and lifting the link |02 `until its end |0| butts the locking lug H8 carried by the locking lever ||0. Here the action stops and nothing further occurs. s

Let us now assume that a correct coin or coins are placed in the coin register. The action just described will again take place and the bell crank 10 will be rotated through a short distance in a counterclockwise direction carrying along the pins 76 and 18 which are secured to the bell crank 10. In Figure l the pin 'i8 moves to the left and the pin 'I8 moves upwardly. In Figure 3, to which reference is now made, the pin I6 moves to the right and pin 'i8 moves upwardly, carrying the cam 80 around in a clockwise direction, as shown by the arrow. This rocks the bell crank |34 `in a counterclockwise direction moving the link |38 to the left and pivoting the lever |44 in a clockwise direction around its pivot |46. The upper end of the lever |44 will move to the right and carry the lower end of lever |56 to the right and with it the link |10, thus tensioning the spring V|16 and all of the register slides |30 through the connecting linkagesV shown in Figure 3. Atthe same time the bell 'crank- |82 will be rocked in a counterclockwise direction so that its arm |90-will immobilize the coin return member |86 through pin |88. Since there are the correct coins in the coin register one of the coin register slides 130 will be released depending upon the particular .coins used. Its release will cause the coin register slide which is freed to move to the right, as

viewed` in FigureV 3, and to the left, as viewed in Figure 1, which motion will rock the unlocking lever |24 in a counterclockwise direction, carry-f ing the lower end of the unlocking lever to the right against lug |22 which is carried by the locking lever ||0 against the action of its spring' H4, thus moving the locking lug ||8 carried by the lower end of the locking lever clear of the path of travel of the end |0| of the locking link |02. This permits the bell crank 'l0 to continue to rotate and hence frees the pull rod 34 so that it may complete its full amplitude of travel. As soon as the toe 96 engages the rst tooth 98 a user is constrained to complete the cycle and the machine cannot again be operated until the cycle is completed since all of the other pull rods are' locked by the motion of one of them.

The operation of the pull rod will cause the reciprocating member 60 to reciprocate, that is, to be pulled downwardly and snapped upwardly by the spring 62 in the form of the invention shown in Figure 5, or to be pulled downwardly and pushed upwardly by the cam slot 5| in the form of the invention shown in Figure 8. The movement of the member 60 in the downwardly direction is of suilicient amplitude so that one o1" the lugs 64 just above the pin 2|8 will ride downwardly past the pin and engage the bottom of it, the spring 2|'l permitting the pin to move to accommodate this motion. The upward motion of the member 60 will move the flexible steel tape 2|0 upwardly to move it clear of the bottommost crank 26 which is in engagement Itherewith, thus allowing the freed shelf to pivot to dump its merchandise.

At the same time the merchandise is being delivered on the return motion of Ithe plunger, the lever 88, shown in Figure l, will pivot in a counterclockwise direction permitting its curved portion 206 to wipe by the member 202 shown in Figure 3 to accept the money and remove it from the coin register so that additional coins will have to be deposited before the cycle can be again performed.

After the uppermost shelf is tripped the empty lock will function so that a pull knob 36 opposite an empty column cannot be operated and the user must select another column con-taining merchandise.

The shelves may be spaced with any desired spacing depending upon the size of the merchandise to be vended. If candy bars are being vended, and they are small, columns may be constructed with shelves .positioned closely adjacent one another. Different cam plates and diierent reciprocating members are used for different spacing of shelves as the cam plate and reciprocating member must be corelated with the shelf spacing.l

It will be seen that we have accomplished the objects of our invention. We have provided an automatic merchandising machine adapted to vend articles whichl cannot be stacked. Our machine is simple in construction and is operable in a convenient and expeditious manner. When a column is empty all ofthe shelves can be rapidly moved to a horizontal position by pulling the pin 2| 8 to the left through the knob 220 and then pulling the steel tape downwardly quickly pivoting the shelves to their merchandise supporting position in rapid succession. Our machineis adapted to be used for automatic mechandising of candy bars, and each candy bar will be.. separately supported without the vdanger of Vbeing crushed or deformed by. contact with another candy bar. A large number of shelves may be used within a given space so that we can produce a machine having a large capacity. Our machine is flexible in design, simple and inexpensive in construction and certain in its operation.

It will be understood that c-ertain features land subcombinations are of utility and may be employed Without reference to other features and subcombinations. This is contemplated by and is within the scope of our claims. It is further obvious that various changes may be made in details within the scope of `our claims without departing from the spirit of our invention. It is therefore to be understood that our invention is not to be limited to the specific details shown and described.

Having thus described our invention, what We claim is:

l. An automatic merchandising machine including in combination a frame, a plurality of shelves adapted to support merchandise, means for pivotally mounting said shelves on said frame in vertically spaced position, each of said shelves being pivoted along an axis displaced from the longitudinal center line thereof, each of said shelves having a crank carried thereby and adapted to pivot therewith, an elongated member, means for mounting said elongated member for vertical movement adjacent the shelf cranks and adapted to contact the sam-e to pivot the shelves to horizontal position, means for step-- ping said elongated member successively free of the shelf cranks whereby to permit the shelves to pivot to dump merchandise supported thereon, and coin controlled actuating means for operating said stepping means.

2. An automatic merchandising machine including in combination a frame, a plurality of vertically spaced shelves pivotally mounted on said frame for movement around an axis adjacent one side thereof, shelf positioning means carried by each of said shelves, a vertically movable member mounted for movement adjacent said shelf positioning means and adapted to coact therewith to pivot the shelves to substantially horizontal position, a reciprocating member mounted for movement adjacent said vertically movable member, coacting means carried by said vertically movable member and said reciprocating member adapted to move the vertically movable member stepwise free of the shelf positioning means of successive shelves, and coin controlled means for operating said reciprocal member.

3. An automatic merchandising machine as in claim 2 in which said shelf positioning means comprise cranks adapted to pivot with said shelves.

4. An automatic merchandising machine as in claim 2 in which said vertically movable means comprises a flexible elongated tape.

5. An automatic merchandising machine as in claim 2 in which said coacting means comprises a spring pressed pin carried by the vertically movable member and a plurality oi lugs carried by the reciprocating member. 6. An automatic merchandising machine as in claim 2 in which said coin controlled operating means comprises a pull member, a cam carried by said pull member and a cam follower carried by said reciprocating member.

7. An automatic merchandising machine includingr in combination a frame, a plurality of columns of vertically positioned shelves carried y said frame, means for pivoting said shelves adjacent their sides, shelf positioning means carried by each of said shelves, a plurality or' flexible elongated members positioned for vertical movement adjacent said shelf positioning means and adapted to ooact therewith to place the shelves in substantially horizontal position, a plurality of reciprocating members positioned adjacent respective elongated flexible members, coacting means carried by said reciprocating members and said flexible members adapted to engage to move the respective flexible members upwardly free of coaction with successive shelf positioning means, cam followers carried by respective reciprocating members, cams adapted to actuate respective cam followers to operate respective reciprocating members, locking means adapted to immobilize all of the cams, pull rods for actuating respective cams, and coin controlled means for freeing the locking means whereby a pull rod opposite its respective column may be actuated to move the reciprocating member to dump the lower shelf in horizontal position.

S. An automatic mechandising machine as in claim '7 in which each of said cams is provided with a locking means adapted to vprevent the operation of the same, and means actuated by said flexible member at a predetermined position in its travel for moving said locking means into locking position.

CHRISTIAN GABRIELSEN. HRAND VORPERIAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

